Drier arrangement



Aug. 31, 1943. c, EARLE 2,328,129

DRIER ARRANGEMENT Filed Jan. 18, 1940 FIG. 2

/Nl/ENTOR GUYO/V LC. EA RLE ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 31,1943

DRIER ARRANGEMENT Guyon L. C. Earle, Forest Hills, N. Y., assignor toGenevieve M. Earle, Forest Hills, N. Y.

Application January 18, 1940, Serial No. 314,402

Claims.

This application relates to driers and more specifically to articledriers for kitchens.

The average housewife, after washing her dishes, often finds itnecessary to leave them in a rack to dry. They usually take aconsiderable length of time to accomplish this because there is notenough circulation of warm air around the dishes. Moreover, the dishesare exposed for all to see-a situation all too frequently not desirable.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel dish dryingarrangement in which the above-mentioned disadvantages are avoided.

In every modern kitchen today, a mechanical refrigerator, eitherelectric or gas, is found. Due to their methods of operation,refrigerators of both types give off much heat, which heat escapes intothe room, more often than not causing annoyance to the housewife becauseit heats up the articles which are placed over the refrigerator exit forthe heated air. In the arrangement of the present invention, this heatis conducted away so that it causes no inconvenience.

It is, therefore, another object of this invention to provide a novelarrangement of a mechanical refrigerator and other elements associatedtherewith in which the heat from the refrigerator is conducted away fromthe place where it originates.

It has been discovered that if circulating air is caused to pass over ornear the source of heat from the refrigerator and then conducted througha rack upon which wet dishes are arranged a most efficient dish drier isobtained.

It is a further object; of this invention to provide a dish drierarrangement in which circulating air warmed by the heat given off from amechanical refrigerator is utilized to dry dishes and similar articles.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a towel drierarrangement utilizing the heated air described above.

Other and ancillary objects will appear as the description proceeds.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided, by way ofillustration, a kitchen arrangement comprising a sink unit locatedpreferably between a refrigerator unit and a stove unit. These units arepreferably all of the type having a set-back top such as is described inPatent 2,180,459, issued November 21, 1939, to Guyon L. C. Earle.Located above and to the rear of the sink is a compartment having a racktherein upon which dishes may be placed for rinsing and drying. Thiscompartment has an upper opening leading to a flue and is also open atthe bottom to an air current. Preferably located under the sink or undera table top member adjacent the sink is the operating mechanism of therefrigerator. A current of air is led into the unit from the region nearthe floor of the room and this current is allowed to pass near theoperating mechanism, serving the double purpose of cooling the mechanismand heating the air. The heated air is then led through a compartment inwhich towels or similar articles may be hung and thence into the dishdrier compartment. The air then passes out into a flue whence it flowsto a central ventilating system (if the arrangement is in an apartmenthouse or home which is so equipped.) In the dishwashing and dryingcompartment a hand spray having a counterweight thereon is adapted to beconnected to the sink faucet whereby the dishes can be sprayed withclean water. This spray is out of sight when the door to the dishwashingcompartment is closed. If desired the sink may be divided into twoportions for washing and rinsing purposes. A swivel faucet permits thewater to flow into either sink portion. The sink portions have separatedrains and an overflow drain is also provided in the partition betweenthem, which partition is usually lower than the top of the sink.

The invention will be more readily understood by referring to thefollowing description and the accompanying drawing forming a partthereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a kitchen unit including a refrigerator,stove, sink, dishwasher and drier, towel racks and cabinets; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical elevation view taken in cross section through thecentral portion of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

Fig. 1 shows, in perspective, an embodiment of the kitchen unit showingthe novel driers of this invention. This unit may be convenientlydivided vertically for ease of description into three units-arefrigerator unit ill, a sink, dishwasher and drier unit ll (hereinafterdesignated sink unit), and stove unit I2,

The refrigerator unit I0, which is more fully described in Patent2,180,460, issued November 21, 1939, to Guyon L. C. Earle, and in twocopending applications, Serial No. 318,223, filed February 10, 1940, andissued on March 2, 1943, as Patent 2,312,325; and Serial No, 318,324,filed February 10, 1940, by the same inventor, preferably comprises alower refrigerated portion I3 which is closed by drawers [4 and an upperrefrigerated portion l5 comprising a compartment l6 for ice-cube traysl1 and an upper refrigerated compartment I8. Located above the upperportion I5 of the refrigerator is a cabinet l9 preferably comprisingshelves 20 and 2| the shelves 20 being set back from the shelves 2|.Doors 22 close the cabinet space, and doors 23 and 24 close the upperportion of the refrigerator, the front surfaces of the doors 22 beingpreferably parallel to and setback from the front surfaces of thedrawers I4. The front surface of the doors 23 and 24 is also preferablyparallel to the front surface of the drawers l4 but is set back fartherthan the front surface of the doors 22. An overhang 25 may be provided,if desired, which may shield one or more sofflt lights 26. Located abovethe lower portion |3 of the refrigerator and in front of the upperportion l5 thereof is a table top member 21 of any suitable materialsuch as stainless steel or Monel metal, which table top member servesboth as a support for articles being taken out of and being placed insaid refrigerator and as a drainboard for the sink which is locatedadjacent the refrigerator.

The sink unit comprises a sink 3!] which is divided into a relativelylarge portion 3| and a relatively small portion 32, a compartment 33located above and to the rear of the sink 30, an upper cabinet member34, a plurality of towel racks 35 having a front member 36 therefor, andaplurality of drawers 31 located beneath the sink. Also beneath the sink3|] is located the operating mechanism 39 for a mechanical refrigeratorwhich is located behind hinged door 38, suitable tubes (not shown) beingprovided to connect the mechanism 39 with the evaporator contained inthe compartment l6. It is obvious that the operating mechanism 39 may bea portion of either a gas or electric refrigerator as it is well knownthat the refrigerator, whether it be of the gas or electric type, givesoff considerable heat. Heretofore this heat has been allowed to escapeinto the kitchen, providing considerable annoyance to the housewife. Aspointed out in greater detail below, this heat may be not only preventedfrom escaping into the kitchen but is, moreover, caused to heat and dryvarious articles. In order to accomplish this result cool air is drawnin through an aperture 40 in the recessed base member which serves tosupport part of or the entire unit. This cool air passes in to thesound-insulated, partly closed box 39 containing the operating mechanismM of the, refrigerator where it tends to cool the mechanism and is, inturn, heated a few degrees. The heated air then passes out of the box 39through the opening 4|, which may, if desired, be filled with a filter42, into the region around the towel racks 35, thereby quickly dryingthe towels 43 placed thereon to dry. The warm air is then led into theregion back of the sink 30 and into the compartment 33. Due to the factthat there is a continuous and fairly rapid circulation, the air isheated only a few degrees, and, because the air is relatively dry, thereis little or no condensation on the bottom of the sink and on the trap5|. This compartment preferably contains a supporting member 44 whichhas various mesh racks 45 thereon which racks are intended to supportarticles 46 such as dishes, glasses, etc. A gentle stream of warm airpasses through compartment 33, more quickly drying dishes 46 placedtherein, and

asaame thence into a flue 41 which may be connected to a central flue 48(in the case where the unit is located in an apartment or house which isequipped with a central flue). If desired a blower (not shown) may beprovided to insure proper draught through the unit. This blower may bepart of the operating mechanism. A filter (not shown) preferably oflarger area than the flue 41 may be inserted conveniently accessible tothe upper shelf of the top cabinet. This will help keep soot, grease anddust (if, as will be pointed out hereinafter, the flue is connected tothe oven 12) from soiling the kitchen ceiling (when the duct 41 leadsinto the kitchen).

Within compartment 33 is a mesh holder 49 for soap, steel wool, etc. Thesink 3|) is especially deep and projects back under the dish washing anddrying compartment 33. The water from the articles 46 drains towards therear of the sink 30. The waste removal members 50 are placed at the backof the sink thus permitting the placing of the sound-insulated operatingmechanism 39 of the refrigerator under the drain pipe 5| of the sinkwith the towel racks 35 oocupying the space in front of the drain pipe5|. The drawers 31 are located under the smaller portion 32 of the sink.

The sink 30 is divided into the two portions 3|, 32 by the partitionmember 52 which is preferably lower than the top. of the sink and drain53, leading from portion 3| to 32 prevents overflow. The swivel faucet54 permits the water to flow into either portion 3| or 32 of the sink.Due to the division of the sink into two portions, it is very convenientto wash dishes in the large portion 3| and rinse them in clean hot waterin the smaller portion 32 before placing them in the rack 35 in thecompartment 33 to dry. The plumbing for the faucet 54 and the waste pipe5 have not been shown in order to simplify the drawing. The drain of thesmaller sink 32 is preferably higher than the drain of the larger sink3|, thus keeping soapy water from rinsing the sink 32.

The dishes 46 in the compartment 33'may be washed by any suitable meanssuch as, for example, a spray nozzle 66 connected to the flexible hose6| which is adapted to be fastened to the faucet 54. A counter weight 62prevents the tube 6| from getting any kinks therein. By means of thecounter weight, the spray nozzle 60 may be pulled out to rinse thedishes 46. When not in use the counter weight draws tube 6| and spray 60out of sight. A hook 63 may be used to support the tube 6| if desired.

The advantages of the dish washing and drying apparatus of my inventionover the usual dish washing are self-evident, as it is out of the way,does not take up any table top space and in fact becomes part of thewall cabinet. Moreover the dishes can be dried quickly and convenientlyin the compartment 33 because of the flow of warm air therethrough. Italso keeps dripping, unsightly brushes, soaps, powders,-etc., out ofsight yet still permits convenient access thereto.

Located above the dish washing and drying compartment is the cabinetspace 34 comprising shelves 64 to the lower two of which are preferablystepped. When there is no flue 41, the shelves extend back to the backwall of the cabinet. The doors 65 for this upper cabinet are preferablyin the same vertical plane as the doors 22 over the refrigerator unitand are also in the same vertical plane as the doors 66 which close asimilar cabinet located above the stove unit to be now described. In"cut-comer kitchens thev cabinet fronts'are not necessarily in the samevertical plane. This is true because of the shape of the wall. As in thecase of the refrigerator,

one or more sofllt lights 28 may be located be-' hind overhang 25, ifdesired.

The stove unit I2 comprises a lower stove portion Ill and an upper stoveportion 'H, cabinets located behind doors 68. The lower portion Illcomprises an oven I2, a broiler l3 and drawers- 14. The upper stoveportion II comprises two enclosed compartments behind doors l5 and I5,one or both of these compartments containing electric or gas burners.The table top member, which is an extension of member 21, is placed ontop of the lower portion and in front of upper portion 'II. The tabletop member may have one or more burners" therein, if desired. The upperset-back compartment 16 of the stove is completely insulated andpreferably has lower than a 50 watt burner therein so that it will bepossible to do quick heating of foods over the gas burners I1 and thenflnish the cooking by electricity. This use of low wattage makes itpossible to use the ordinary electric outlet for finishing cooking byelectricity and not have special electric wiring for the electricportion of the stove. The stove unit .per se does not form part of thepresent inven- .may be located under the table top member 21 and performthe same functions as above described. If desired, the warm air from theoven 12 may be passed into the compartment 33 through a flue and thenceout the flue 41. Also, if desired, the warm air from the operatingmechanism 39 may be conducted into the compartment 1! or the compartment18 (or both) to warm plates, etc., therein. Moreover, a flue may belocated between the two cabinets 88 which may be connected to thecompartment 33.

While various embodiments and modifications of this invention have beendescribed herein it is to be understood that various other modificationsmay be made without changing the scope of the invention which isindicated by the appended claims. In the claims, the term "dish isintended to be generic to all types of eating and cooking utensils suchas. for example, plates, cups, saucers, glasses, silverware, and pans.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination for drying dishes and similar articles comprising acompartment having walls, racks for dishes and similar articlespositioned within said walls, said compartment having openings in theupper and lower portions thereof, respectively, to permit the passage ofair through said compartment and an opening in a wall thereof to permitarticles to be placed on the racksin said compartment and be removedtherefrom, a closure member for the opening in said wall, means defininga drainage path for conducting drain water from said compartment, amechanical refrigerator having a condenserwhich gives of! heat, saidcondenser being positioned at a lower level than the opening in thelower portion of said compartment, and means including said condenserfor producing an upwardly moving current of heated air which passes intosaid compartment through the opening in the lower portion thereof andout of said compartment through the opening in the upper portionthereof.

2. The combination of elements as in claim 1 in which said drainagemeans includes the drain of a sink.

3. The combination of elements as in claim 1 in further combination witha rack for towels and similar articles positioned in the path of saidcurrent of heated air.

4. The combination of elements as in claim 1 in further combination withan enclosing member for said condenser adapted to be supported from thefloor of a room, said enclosing member having an opening therein nearthe floor of the room which forms an inlet for the air comprising saidair current.

5. A kitchen combination comprising a sink having a drain, a dish dryingcompartment having walls and being positioned above and to'the rear ofsaid sink, racks for dishes positioned within said walls, saidcompartment having openings in the upper and lower portions thereof,respectively, to permit the passage of air through said compartment andan opening in a wall thereof to permit articles to be placed on theracks in said "compartment and be removed therefrom, a closure memberfor the opening in said wall, means including the drain of said sink forconducting drain water from said compartment, a mechanical refrigeratoradjacent said sink and having a condenser which gives off heat, saidcondenser being positioned at a lower level than the opening in thelower portion of said compartment, and means including said condenserfor producing an upwardly moving current of heated air which passes intosaid compartment through the opening in the lower portion thereof andout of said compartment through the opening in the upper portionthereof.

GUYON L. C. EARLE.

